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21. september 2004
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"One in three Danes a criminal"
A large study by Denmark's Dept of Justice has found that around 30 % of Danes born in 1970 have been punished for some violation of the law, even if it excludes minor traffic tickets. The good news is that many of them only commit one offense, while young, and become law abiding citizens thereafter.
(From a Danish article in Berlingske Tidende)
11:58:33 PM 
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Michael Moore: Kerry "a lousy candidate"
I fear I have to give Michael Moore credit for getting something right in his latest message:
Look at us -- what a bunch of crybabies. Bush gets a bounce after his convention and you would have thought the Germans had run through Poland again. The Bushies are coming, the Bushies are coming! Yes, they caught Kerry asleep on the Swift Boat thing. Yes, they found the frequency in Dan Rather and ran with it. Suddenly it's like, "THE END IS NEAR! THE SKY IS FALLING!"
No, it is not. If I hear one more person tell me how lousy a candidate Kerry is and how he can't win... Dammit, of COURSE he's a lousy candidate -- he's a Democrat, for heavens sake! That party is so pathetic, they even lose the elections they win!
Of course Michael Moore is secretly hoping for a Bush victory. Then he can make a new mockumentary about how Rove brainwashed everybody, Bush's rich friends bribed Gallup into rigging the opinion polls and Diebold machines fixed the election.
You read it here first.
PS: Past Moore bashing.
PS 2: Mark Steyn agrees Kerry is an awful candidate, and his writing is so devastatingly funny it might even amuse a democrat. A bit.
Note to self: remember to put in hyperlinks before posting.
6:46:02 PM
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Fake memo source met top Kerry aide
Bill Burkett, the dubious source to the infamous fake Bush memos, insisted on CBS News putting him in contact with the Kerry campaign before he handed the documents over. Producer Mary Mapes put top Kerry aide (and former Clinton press secretary) Joe Lockhart in touch with Burkett.
The press ethics here is rather dubious, to put it mildly.
However, Burkett now realises that he has damaged the Kerry campaign instead of helping it, and is insisting that his contact with the campaign had nothing to do with the documents.
CBS would not discuss the propriety of the network serving as a conduit between Burkett and the Kerry campaign. "It was not part of any deal" to obtain the documents, West said, declining to elaborate.
But Burkett said Monday that his contact with Lockhart was indeed part of an "understanding" with CBS. Burkett said his interest in contacting the campaign was to offer advice in responding to Republican criticisms about Kerry's Vietnam service. It had nothing to do with the documents, he said.
"My interest was to get the attention of the national (campaign) to defend against the ... attacks," Burkett said, adding that he also talked to former Georgia senator Max Cleland and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean during the past 45 days. "Neither the Democratic Party or the Kerry campaign had anything to do with the documents," he said.
At this point, of course, Burkett's credibility is totally shot, meaning people will believe the above as they want to.
The accusation that someone in the Kerry campaign was somehow involved in the fabrication of the memos will no doubt linger. But fact is that Burkett's insistence on talking to the Kerry campaign before handing over the memos (which he denies, but CBS says is true), is actually evidence that nobody central to the Kerry campaign had anything to do with this. If Burkett already was in touch with them, he wouldn't need to beg a journalist for Lockhart's phone number. Obviously the Kerry campaign has considered Burkett something of a maverick all the time, and kept him at an arms length. That is to their credit.
Update: Don't miss Tim Blair's Rathergate update! Dang, that guy can write.
5:32:43 PM
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Nobel Peace Prize...
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has taken the decision on the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, but it will not be public before the official annoucement on October 8.
Espen Barth Eide, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, tipped International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director general ElBaradei as the winner.
Stein Tønnesson, head of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, agreed that the prize was likely to reward work against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
He said candidates could also include US Republican Senator Richard Lugar and former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn for their work to fund destruction of former Soviet atomic warheads.
Tony Blair and George Bush are among the nominated, but have as much a chance of winning as Saddam Hussein.
Another hot nominee is Hans Blix. Yes, really.
I would be very surprised if the committee, appointed by but not answering to the Norwegian parliament (read: retirement job for ex-politicians), makes such a sensible choice as Senators Lugar and Nunn. They are likely to give a peace prize intended as a "message" to President Bush, and we all know what that means.
It means that the prize will continue to fall into obscurity.
PS: I personally think it's long overdue to give the prize to Vaclav Havel, but considering his support of the Iraq war and opposition to Castro's communist paradise on Cuba, it would surprise me a lot if the committee agrees with me.
3:45:48 PM
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© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.10.2004; 07:27:29.
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